Hawkeye Reporter

There were 26 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending August 7, a 52.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 586 deaths in the state. 24.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8 percent were from cancer and 7.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.4 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Heart disease	145	129
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	116	106
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	33	30
Cerebrovascular diseases	27	22
Alzheimer's disease	26	17
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	26	15
Diabetes mellitus	22	19
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	19	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	61	43